Newbie - Help in baseline & finding my way

[ZenDog]

I am new to cpap 30 days old. Quickly found the supplied gear provided no insight and switched to monitoring machine with software. After a struggle with several masks I am now stabilizing in use but I am unclear on numbers.

I feel better then before but still tired at times when I suspect I should not be.

My numbers on Encore Viewer are as follows;

CPAP Pressure 7.0
AOAI 1.0
AHI 5.0
Average AHI 6.0
AVSI 1.0
Average Leak 33.0

My leaks and AHI seem high to me but I am not clear what good numbers should be. Reading through the posts I see some pretty wide ranges of numbers?

Any suggestions on what to try first or setting to tweak? I have been teased with feeling better and now want to go further to feeling good or great.

Many thanks to all for a great forum ...

[DreamStalker]

First of all ... your leak rate as listed above seems about right. The onwers manual for your mask should have a chart listing your leak rate based on your CPAP pressure setting. Check it to make sure you are not more than 10% or 15% above what the chart states. Also if you look at your nightly report data ... your leak rate should NOT be all hurky jerky with mountains and valleys but instead have a fairly level line perhaps with a zipper-like pattern. Since you have a nasal mask, maintaining control of your leaks is an abosulte must before you change any pressures.

If your leaks are indeed under control you can then proceed to make changes to pressure to lower your AHI numbers. Try increasing by one cm pressure but only change after averaging your data with a week's worth of data first ... in other words, don't go changing the pressure every night. If you decide to change masks, then you have to start over with the averaging. You should in time begin to see a clear pattern of what your optimum pressure is.

Best-o-luck!

[rested gal]

Very, very good advice from DreamStalker. That's a great way to go about it, imho, too.